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<TITLE>The Right to the City Symposium</TITLE>
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</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Helvetica Neue"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:10pt'>CALL FOR PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS/PANELS<BR>
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SYMPOSIUM: THE RIGHT TO THE CITY<BR>
<BR>
Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning,<BR>
University of Sydney<BR>
Saturday April 9th, 2011<BR>
<BR>
"The Right to The City" is an exhibition and publishing project <BR>
cosponsored by Tin Sheds Gallery and _Architectural Theory Review_. We <BR>
invite the submission of abstracts proposing papers, panels and <BR>
creative presentations for a one-day symposium, investigating <BR>
connections between art, architecture, planning and activism.<BR>
<BR>
"The Right to the City" takes as its starting point David Harvey's <BR>
polemical article, of the same name, that redefined urban existence as <BR>
a contested part of modern democracy: "The freedom to make and remake <BR>
our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious <BR>
yet most neglected of our human rights."<BR>
[available at <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="http://newleftreview.org/?view=2740">http://newleftreview.org/?view=2740</a></U></FONT> .] <BR>
Given the perilous environmental predicament we find ourselves in, coupled with <BR>
our intensifying urbanisation, many artists, activists, planners and <BR>
architects are seeking ways to "remake" the city in more socially <BR>
connected and sustainable ways. Their activities are often concerned <BR>
with negotiating the increasing fragmentation and complexity of the <BR>
contemporary city; developing critical spatial practices that engage in <BR>
micro-political actions.<BR>
<BR>
These activities are frequently undertaken in opposition to <BR>
institutionalised, technocratic urbanisms; a range of ideas, practices <BR>
and processes has emerged that focuses instead on pluralistic, <BR>
decentralized, and cooperative social ecologies. As forms of art <BR>
practice, architecture, planning or activism, they are "minor" <BR>
urbanisms, concerned with the everyday, with temporal and interim uses; <BR>
with contingent tactics that exploit voids, niches and loopholes in the <BR>
socio-spatial fabric of cities. As catalysts for change, the tactics of <BR>
"minor," "everyday" or "DIY" urbanism are often defined in opposition <BR>
to the commodification and corporatisation of urban space. Instead, <BR>
they emphasise the creation of community, however temporary, and the <BR>
framing of public situations producing intersubjective encounters <BR>
without profit as their central motivation. "The Right to the City" <BR>
will bring together an ambitious collection of artistic and written <BR>
works that explore such urban interventions – opening up a space in <BR>
which possibilities for reimagining life in the city can be discussed.<BR>
<BR>
With this context in mind, we invite submissions for panels, <BR>
presentations, papers, actions and activities. We are interested in <BR>
proposals that will help us develop a one-day "think tank" on Saturday, <BR>
April 9th, 2011, exploring these practices of everyday urbanism, the <BR>
ideas driving them, their outcomes, implications, possibilities, but <BR>
also their limits, tensions and complexities. This event, in <BR>
conjunction with the exhibition "The Right to the City," aims to feed <BR>
off the university environment and resources while simultaneously <BR>
eroding boundaries that divide the institution from the broader community.<BR>
<BR>
We encourage the submission of creative proposals for panel <BR>
discussions, dialogues and presentations, as well as more scholarly <BR>
papers. These proposals should be up to 500 words and submitted in Word <BR>
or RTF to <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="contactrighttothecity@gmail.com">contactrighttothecity@gmail.com</a></U></FONT>. Selected material will be <BR>
invited to contribute to the exhibition catalogue, _Architectural <BR>
Theory Review_ special issue (please see the separate call for papers <BR>
on the website), and a book planned for 2012.<BR>
<BR>
Deadline for abstracts (up to 500 words): February 10, 2011.<BR>
<BR>
For enquiries about the project contact: <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="contactrighttothecity@gmail.com">contactrighttothecity@gmail.com</a></U></FONT> <BR>
and see the website at <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="http://www.therighttothecity.com">http://www.therighttothecity.com</a></U></FONT> .<BR>
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